Post by Scifishocks on Oct 31, 2007 2:02:35 GMT 1
I can't tell you how much I loved this book as a kid.
'The Supernatural World' was published by Usborne in 1979 and I saw it in WH Smiths with its cover image of a skull with bloodshot eyes and sharp teeth and spent several weeks pocket money on it!
I read it endlessly for years after although, I admit, I found it a bit scary.
It covered various weird phenomena like Vampires, Ghosts, UFOs, Psychokinesis and folklore. The other great thing about it was the illustrations. It was packed full of beautiful (and eerie) paintings of whatever subjects were being covered on the page. These vivid images were done by people such as Oliver Frey (some of you old'uns might remember his cover art for computer mags like Crash and Zzap, back in the day).
Anyway, over the course of time, I lost it.
Now here's the weird bit.
About five years ago, I was talking to my girlfriend at the time about various things from my youth and I remembered this book.
The next day, we were walking through Grainger Market in Newcastle, which has a book stall. As I passed the stall, something caught my eye.
Yep, sitting right on top of a pile of cheap novels was a copy of the book. The one I had loved so much and remembered with fondness, a long time after having lost it, the previous night.
85p later, I was walking away with my prize, grinning but full of wonder at this strange coincidence. I still have it and, this time, I won't lose it.
True story.
'The Supernatural World' was published by Usborne in 1979 and I saw it in WH Smiths with its cover image of a skull with bloodshot eyes and sharp teeth and spent several weeks pocket money on it!
I read it endlessly for years after although, I admit, I found it a bit scary.
It covered various weird phenomena like Vampires, Ghosts, UFOs, Psychokinesis and folklore. The other great thing about it was the illustrations. It was packed full of beautiful (and eerie) paintings of whatever subjects were being covered on the page. These vivid images were done by people such as Oliver Frey (some of you old'uns might remember his cover art for computer mags like Crash and Zzap, back in the day).
Anyway, over the course of time, I lost it.
Now here's the weird bit.
About five years ago, I was talking to my girlfriend at the time about various things from my youth and I remembered this book.
The next day, we were walking through Grainger Market in Newcastle, which has a book stall. As I passed the stall, something caught my eye.
Yep, sitting right on top of a pile of cheap novels was a copy of the book. The one I had loved so much and remembered with fondness, a long time after having lost it, the previous night.
85p later, I was walking away with my prize, grinning but full of wonder at this strange coincidence. I still have it and, this time, I won't lose it.
True story.
Prepare For The Future